Manors Power Station or the Tramways Generating Station is a former coal-fired power station located in the Manors district of the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear in North East England. The station's turbine hall and other remaining buildings are Grade II listed.

History The station was commissioned by the Newcastle Corporation to supply electricity to the Newcastle Corporation Tramways system, that was in the process of electrification. The station was designed by architect Benjamin Simpson, and was to contain the tramways' offices. Construction of the station was initially delayed by a bricklayer's strike, but laying of the building's foundations commenced on 14 January 1900. The construction of the station was completed in 1904. The station generated electricity until 1936. The origins of this action dated from the 1920s. A Parliamentary report by Lord Weir led to The Electricity (Supply) Act 1926 (repealed 1989), which created the Central Electricity Board and the National Grid operating at 132 kV (50 Hz). Manors Power Station was deemed too small in generating capacity and its associated plant operated at 40 Hz, thus it suffered the same fate of many other municipal power stations and ceased generation. However, it was still retained for electrical function. The introduction of the Newcastle Corporation's trolleybus system, together with the commissioning of new electrically-driven cranes on the Corporation-owned Newcastle Quayside in the 1930s, turned the Manors site into the central control point for the many suburban substations used by the trolleybuses. These substations took the 6 kV AC distributed from Manors and transformed and rectified this to the 550 V DC used by the trolleybuses and rapidly diminishing tram fleet. Manors itself became a substation and supplied the city centre area with the DC power for the trolleybuses and Quayside cranes. The electrically-operated lifts used on the Tyne Bridge were supplied by Manors station.

Operations and specification The station chiefly supplied electricity for the Newcastle Corporation Tramways system, but as well as this, the power station also supplied electricity to public buildings such as the Town Hall, as well electric lighting on the main streets of the city. Manors Power Station did not supply domestic or industrial consumers at any time. The station was coal fired. Coal was delivered to the station by rail from Trafalgar South Yard, adjacent to the East Coast Main Line at Argyle Street. The station was powered by reciprocating steam engines driving DC generators, with power being controlled and distributed from the station. Essentially, the technology being used was obsolete at the time of opening and the original prime movers were replaced in 1908 by four Parsons turbo generators.

Post-closure and present The station was used as an air raid shelter during the Second World War. After cessation of its electrical function for the Corporation's trolleybus system in October 1966, the City Lighting department continued to used the building as a maintenance centre. The 60 ft (18 m) high turbine hall was stripped of its electrical plant and was used as an indoor car park. During the construction of the city's Metro system in the 1970s, a full size mock up Metro station was constructed in the turbine hall for training purposes. The building then passed into the ownership of Stagecoach, who used it as their regional headquarters. The building was then bought by Christian group City Church. It has been used as a meeting place by the group since October 1997, and has been renamed The CastleGate. The renovation began in May 2000, and was completed 18 months later, with the inaugural service on 3 November 2001. A 50 tonnes (49.21 LT; 55.12 ST) overhead crane, capable of lifting up to 5 tonnes (4.921 LT; 5.512 ST), is still in place in the turbine hall. As well as this, old tiles, metal galleries where workers kept check on the turbines, and old stained glass windows depicting trams, have all been kept. The building was extended in 2002, with the construction of the Generator Studios office space. This was further expanded with the construction of Generator2. Construction work began in March 2008, with completion expected for 2009.